Class of 2007 get record salaries

Complete Article:- B-school ISB graduates get record salaries - Indianedunews.net

The Class of 2007 of the premier Indian School of Business (ISB) has attracted record salaries; with the top international offer being $269,000 (Rs.11.8 million) against the highest domestic offer of Rs.4.39 million. The average international salary was $135,000 and the average domestic salary 1.50 million. Interestingly, a large number of students opted for domestic jobs. "The placement results for 2007 have been outstanding," ISB dean M. Rammohan Rao said. "There has been a sharp increase in the CTC (cost-to-company) levels and our students have shown immense confidence in making choices that suit long term career prospects over immediate salaries," he added.

The Class of 2007 completed the one-year intensive Post Graduate Programme in Management on April 7, 2007. Of the 416 students in the class, 414 participated in the placement process and, among them, received 584 offers from over 200 companies that visited the campus during the last phase of the program.

"The high CTC levels demonstrate the confidence that companies have in the high quality of the ISB's management talent," said Rao, even as he added a word of caution. "We need to take a balanced view of international offers given by multinational companies. I urge everyone to use these figures in the proper context so that potential students may get the correct picture of what they can achieve in a management institution."

The Class of 2007 received offers from a variety of companies and industries. The number of offers from the financial services sector more than doubled to 97, while a large number of offers continued to come from consulting companies. Companies from several new sectors like real estate, oil and energy, media, manufacturing, micro-finance, education, and healthcare, as also NGOs, made offers to ISB graduates.

During the year, for the first time in ISB's six-year history, a company recruited two groups of four-to-five students as core management teams to run stand-alone businesses. These groups will have full responsibility of setting up the projects from ground zero and leading them to become a success. "The company has offered students both CTC and equity stakes in the project, making it an exciting and attractive option for students with an entrepreneurial bent of mind," ISB deputy Dean Ajit Rangnekar said. The work experience of the students in the two groups ranges from two years to 11 years.

An interesting trend witnessed at the ISB was that a large number of students preferred domestic placements. "Many ISB students come with international work experience. After a year of learning and exposure to global faculty and management practices, they are keen to develop careers in India," Rangnekar pointed out. Often, those opting for international offers were observed to be discussing with the recruiters the possibilities of returning to India. "Increasingly, job content and location are becoming top priorities for selecting an offer," Rangnekar said.

Meera Sridharan, for instance, has opted for a domestic offer after working in a multinational company in the US. "Many of us look for challenging roles that give us the freedom for entrepreneurial expression. I was keen to be located in Chennai, near my family and I am happy that I got an offer from a company that had the flexibility to help me do so," she explained.

One of the unique platforms ISB provides is an opportunity for students to make career shifts. Thus, from the automobile industry to banking, from transportation to telecom, from being a doctor in the armed forces to a fund financing NGOs, the Class of 2007 has made several interesting career shifts.

"I had learnt and grown a lot during my career in the shipping industry but I needed to find new challenges," said Vijay Nehra, who has now moved to an FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) company.

"ISB changed my life. I got an excellent opportunity to refresh myself and find a new career that fulfils my ambitions and gives me a completely new perspective," Nehra added.

The school offers a one-year postgraduate programme; short-duration, high-powered executive education programmes for CEOs and senior executives; and a two-year research fellowship programme.

"The origins and distinctive research of our faculty members ensure that our programme content is contemporary and global in its perspective, and develops our students' understanding of modern management opportunities and challenges," dean Rao explained.

A glimpse of ISB Placements - Class of 2006

The Indian School of Business reported a 21 per cent jump in the average international salary offered to its students of Class of 2006, with the highest offer crossing a Rs 1 crore annual package. "This year four of our students crossed the salary package of 2,00,000 dollars with the highest offered being at 2,33,800 dollars (approximately Rs 1.04 crore)," Indian School of Business Deputy Dean Ajit Rangnekar told reporters here. He said the highest international salary was offfered by an Indian technology company for a global leadership position.

The average internationlal salary stood at $1,20,700 (approximately Rs 53.5 lakh), which is up 21 per cent from that of last year, he said. The domestic average salary also witnessed an increase of 18 per cent at Rs 11.77 lakh, while the highest Indian salary for an ISB student this year was Rs 30.33 lakh, Rangnekar said. Of the top four students getting the highest salary offers, two were women, he said.

The highest international offer made to a woman student stood at $2,23,400 (aproximately Rs 1.01 crore), while in the domestic scene it was Rs 20 lakh. The average salary offered to women students stood at Rs 9.89 lakh. Out of 345 students in the 2006 batch, 328 took part in the placement process and over 145 companies visited the school campus, he said. "A total of 425 offers were made to our students, which is up 21 per cent from last year," he added.

Source: The Economic Times - April 05, 2006

ISB placements - Experience Pays for Class of 2006

ISB’s Women Grads accounted for 50% Of Rs 1 Crore-Plus salary Packages for the Class of 2006. An annual salary offer of Rs 1.04 crore, or $233,800 to be precise, to the year’s top billed graduate from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, has not only made headlines, but has been cause for some euphoria.

However, what is not as well-known is that this top pick by Bangalore-based ITC Infotech for a London posting is no greenhorn. He is a well-heeled professional with 10 plus years tucked under his belt, and therefore, may not have made a killing after all. But if salary offers are anything to go by, the women graduates from ISB have done remarkably well this year having bagged 50% of the Rs 1crore-plus jobs.

It is understood that two of the four offers which breached the $200,000-mark were made by real estate consulting firm Tishman Speyer and British Petroleum to women graduates, who are again not freshers. Both the positions are based in London. All this may make it seem that campus-to-crorepati has never been so commonplace. But HR experts say this small number of crorepati graduates is not something to tom-tom about. However, they add that it is heartening to note that foreign companies are coming to campuses and putting great value on Indian talent. “These salaries are typically for overseas postings. It is really not fair to translate such numbers into INR and feel happy about them,” they add. Moreover, they are in keeping with industry standards abroad for people with equivalent profiles. Also, ISB graduates fall under a wide age group of 24-42.

Typically, their salaries cannot be compared to fresher profiles as their placements are more lateral in nature, they point out. Interestingly, the `outrageous’ job offer of Rs 1.04 crore has not come from traditional players like the Big 4 consulting firms, investment banks or large IT firms, but from the $57m ITC Infotech.

Sources say, “Sometimes, small companies do end up making huge offers to find favour in the campus. Besides, the company is backed by a very strong parent group.” HR experts in the IT industry say a similar experience profile would earn a similar amount in most large IT companies.

Economic Times spoke to a cross-section of ISB students to get a feel of their aspirations, euphoria and achievements. Though many of them felt that ISB did add value to their profiles, they believe that their own individual work experience stood them in good stead.

HR sources say, there is a rough premium of Rs 1 lakh per year of work experience over and above the base salary for any position. Former merchant navy officer Swati Singh, who will join Tishman in London, told ET, “I will get to leverage my finance knowledge in this new role.” She was the first-ever woman officer to join the merchant navy in 1996. The other woman graduate Shilpa Bijoria is headed to London to be part of British Petroleum’s fast-track leadership programme that develops future CEOs. Bijoria said the fellowship programme at BP would train her for two years. “I’ll be working on different projects and it will help me understand the company,” she said. After two years, she will join the top management team. Though she is not ready to reveal her pay packet, she says, “it will be an astronomical increase compared to my previous job”. Coming close to the magic salaries is Nirja Shah, ex-TCS project manager, is headed to Texas for a role in EDS’ corporate strategy division. Ms Shah says ISB is the only B-school that EDS has hired from. EDS has picked up about 8 graduates. “Some of the job offers at ISB rival those made at global schools like Harvard, Wharton or Kellogg,” she adds.

Another interesting case is that of Anjali Patel, who incidentally was the chosen one to meet visiting US President George Bush. She is joining Deutsche Bank’s investment division and believes in “managing money”. She has opted for an Indian posting in Mumbai although she has lived and studied in the US for over seven years.These women super-achievers also share a great sense of work-life balance. In their mid-to-late 20s, they are open to the idea of marriage and seek spouses “who will understand” their career choices.

Back home, the highest Indian offer of Rs 30.34 lakh has apparently gone to former HDFC executive Vijay Mulbagal. After his 9-year stint with the bank, he is all set to join Diamond Cluster, a US-based consulting firm. “I’m joining them at a middle management position. I like the new job profile as it requires constant interaction with the bigwigs of the industries,” he said. And, he is keen on setting up his own equity firm someday.

Some students also opted for positions in countries like China, Mexico and Poland, while a bunch of them did not opt for the placement process and stayed home in Hyderabad to promote their own ventures.

Source: The Economic Times - April 07, 2006

ISB - Placement Summary - 2007

Summary of the placements at ISB in 2007

For the first time since the last five years, the ISB has attracted companies from Australia and Italy. Leading companies based in Germany, Switzerland, Middle East, USA, UK, Singapore etc are visiting the campus. This year, a company recruited two groups of students as core management teams to run stand alone businesses. These groups of 4/5 students will responsible for setting up the project from Ground Zero and leading it to become a success.

In a press release to The Hindu, Dr. Rammohan Rao said: "Now on a sharp growth curve, the Indian economy provides opportunities for our students to grow with it. Taking a balanced view and opting for strong roles irrespective of compensation is a mark of maturity. I am glad to see that the youth of India are demonstrating confidence in their abilities and in our economy," he said. Among the `non-traditional' sectors increased are several international and domestic companies and of particular interest are micro-finance companies, NGOs, real estate, retail, infrastructure like steel, cement, oil and natural gas. Companies looking to make offers for senior management roles include Holcim Ltd (a leading Global player in cement industry), Tischman Speyer (a leading real estate and consulting agency), Italcementi S.p.A (fifth-largest cement producer in the world), Arcelor Mittal (Largest steel producer in the world) and Santos (A major Australian oil and gas exploration and production company with presence in Australia, USA, Papua New Guinea and Egypt).

HIGHLIGHTS

Class Size 416
Average Age 27 Years
Average Work Experience 5 Years
Total number of participating students 414
Total number of companies that participated 202
Total number of offers 581

Highest International salary USD 2,69,000
Average International salary USD 135,000
Highest Indian salary INR 43,91,000
Average Indian salary INR 15,03,000
Highest International salary for a woman student USD 161, 000
Highest domestic salary for a woman INR 2, 700, 000

A word of caution:- When ISB computes the average domestic and international salaries, it takes into account all offers that have been made to the students independent of whether they have been accepted or not. For example, a student gets three offers - two domestic offers of INR 2 million and INR 3 million per annum and one international offer of USD 150,000 per annum and he accepts only the domestic offer of INR 3 million per annum, then ISB takes into account all the three offers for computing averages and not the one that has been accepted by the student. Please be careful while understanding the averages as these averages refer to the offers made rather than to the offers accepted. The above figures are based on the Cost to the Comapny (CTC) which may include monetary benefits that could be realised only after a lapse of time like two to three years. It also includes the signing bonus, which may not recur subsequently.